On Friday June 3, Fellowship Southwest executive director Stephen Reeves received a call from Terry Burton, a leader in the Border Collaboration Network and FSW supporter, with the terrifying news that Pastor Lorenzo Ortiz had been kidnapped. Lorenzo is a dear brother to Fellowship Southwest and a member of our border pastor network. He receives monthly support from the Knox Fund for Immigrant Relief for the three shelters he operates in Nuevo Laredo and one in Monterrey where he shelters, feeds, protects, and safely transport migrants who find themselves with nowhere to go in northern Mexico. A kidnapping like this is something we have always feared, since Nuevo Laredo is known as the most dangerous city in North America because of cartel activity.

Stephen then called Lorenzo’s daughter Ruth, and learned that the cartel had just demanded a $20,000 ransom. She was on her way to the FBI office in Laredo to strategize about their response.

Although hopeful that God would protect her father, Ruth and Lorenzo’s family and friends, including us at Fellowship Southwest, had heard too many horror stories about what happens to people when they become a target of cartels. Hundreds began praying for his release.

The next morning we were overjoyed and relieved to learn that Lorenzo was home unharmed. His kidnappers dropped the demand for the ransom and even replaced the tires on his van which they had slashed. The FBI was confused. This doesn’t ever happen.

If you know Lorenzo,  you know that he wasn’t the scared victim the cartels expected him to be. He was calm, kind, and ministered to them, sharing the love of Christ.

In this 45 minute interview, Lorenzo tells all about his kidnapping. He shares why he was kidnapped, what was going on behind the scenes, how and why he was returned unscathed, and why we should be praying for the cartels.